GE and Vestas settle wind turbine patent suit

General Electric (GE) and Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems have agreed to amicably settle all pending patent litigation between them and establish a cross-licensing deal.

GE sued Vestas for patent infringement in the US District Court for the Central District of California in July 2017.

According to a joint press release issued yesterday, June 25, the patent at issue related to technologies that enabled wind turbines to manage grid faults.

GE and Vestas have now reached a global cross-licensing deal allowing both parties and their affiliates to use the technology covered by the patents. As part of the deal, Vestas will pay an undisclosed sum to GE.

GE’s original lawsuit alleged that Vestas infringed two of its patents (US numbers 7,629,705 and 6,921,985). Vestas responded with two counterclaims of infringement of two of its own patents (US numbers 7,102,247 and 7,859,125).

The asserted patents covered technology that ensured “an electric power system is configured so that [wind] turbines keep moving” during voltage dips.

GE had sought triple damages for what it said was Vestas’ wilful infringement of its patents.

In a November 2017 court filing, Vestas denied infringement of the ‘985 patent, while arguing that the ‘705 patent was unenforceable due to the omission of material prior art when applying to the US Patent and Trademark Office.

The following month, Vestas filed another response to GE’s complaint, in which it accused the American corporation of infringing two of its patents covering methods for managing the power supply to wind turbines.

With news of the settlement, all infringement claims have now been dropped.